Daily News- March 05 - 2003- Wednesday
  • Fernandes torn between convictions and obligations
  • Bank closure hits Indo-Myanmarese trade
  • UN urged to pressure Burma to release ailing Mon leaders
  • Thai Army forces Shan State troops off mountains to appease Burma
  • Intruder scares Burma's foreign minister in Bangladesh


    • Fernandes torn between convictions and obligations

    Deepika, India

    New Delhi, Mar 4 (UNI) Defence Minister George Fernandes, who has opened his heart and home to the people struggling for democracy in Myanmar, found himself in an odd situation today while defending the government's relationship with the military regime in Yangong.

    ''The government has to take steps which outside of government, one would not like to take,'' Mr Fernandes said adding that the government was constrained not by economic or trade issues but because it had to tackle the insurgents who are using the soil of Myanmar to launch trouble in the northeast.

    Mr Fernandes's residence on Krishna Menon Marg here is home for many Burmese refugees who in exile are carrying on the struggle against the military dictatorship in Myanmar. ''My home is their home...That home is open and will remain open,'' he said.

    The Defence Minister was speaking at a function to release the book Burma File:A Question of Democracy, written by journalist Soe Myint who hijacked a Thai Airways flight to Kolkata in 1991 and now lives in Delhi while awaiting trial in the anti-hijacking case which could put him behind bars for life.

    Myint and other pro-democracy activists did not use any arm or force and when they told the passengers of the story of their people they got support from both their hostages and Thai airways.Neither filed any complaint against them.

    Myint, whose trial begins in Kolkata on April 2, saluted the Defence Minister for his support and said ''In which country will you find a minister who releases a hijacker's book.'' Mr Fernandes nimbly sidestepped any controversy about his feelings for the Burmese struggle for democracy coming into conflict with his duties as Defence Minister.

    He said there was nothing immoral in asking the Myanmar regime for help in tackling insurgency if it helped in saving the lives of Indian soldiers on the borders who are the target of militants operating from Burma.

    ''My government's engagement with Burma because of the problems on the border will remain,'' Mr Fernandes said but assured the large number of Burmese exiles at the function that ''India as a nation has stood by the people of Burma and will continue to stand by the people of Burma.'' Mr Fernandes said when he became the Defence Minister in 1998, he was asked whether his views on human rights and democratic rights would change.

    ''I said I have my convictions on which I have acted for a life time and will continue to hold on to them. As a government I have a duty to perform by my country. Some saw a contradiction in this. But for the last four and a half years, I have never ad to go back on my conviction on the struggle of the people of Burma.'' He said efforts would be made to persuade the Burmese military leadership that democracy will not hurt Burma. That democratic polity will not have an adverse impact on the military's task.

    Admitting that Soe Myint's problems had not been resolved, Mr Fernandes said he had constantly made efforts to see that the journalist was out of danger. ''Those efforts will continue till he is liberated. I have no doubt we will succeed in doing that.''

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    Bank closure hits Indo-Myanmarese trade

    source : Siliconindia

    NEW DELHI: The closure of a bank in Myanmar has dealt a severe blow to the country's trade with India.The closing down of the Burma Economic Bank in Tamu, Myanmar, last week has already led to large losses in trade, according to the India-based Mizzima news agency.

    Indo-Myanmar Traders Union vice president W.N. Singh said the closing down of the bank strongly affected traders on both sides. "According to reports, the Burmese (Myanmarese) traders are also worried over the developments but they are prevented from protesting," he said.

    The union facilitates export and import under a trade agreement between India and Myanmar. Singh called for "immediate steps from both countries" to undo the damage to bilateral trade from the bank's closure.

    According to Singh, Myanmarese traders had yet to clear dues to Indian businessmen because of the bank's closure. Furthermore, revenue losses to both India and Myanmar could be anticipated.

    The Indo-Myanmar trade agreement was signed in 1994. In its wake, the volume of trade between the two countries has increased significantly.

    Two other trade groups -- the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Organisation and the Associated Chambers of Commerce -- have also expressed concern over the Burma Economic Bank's closure and appealed to Myanmar's ruling junta to take steps to reopen it.

    "Trade is the lifeline of the people living along the international border and hence the junta should take immediate step in this regard," said an Indian trader.

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    UN urged to pressure Burma to release ailing Mon leaders

    Source : AFP

    Exiled representatives of Burma's Mon ethnic group have urged the United Nations to pressure the military government to release three ailing Mon leaders jailed on political grounds, according to a letter seen here Wednesday.

    Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) vice chairman Nai Ngwe Thein, secretary Min Soe Lin and joint secretary Min Kyi Win have been in jail since 1998, the letter to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva read.

    Min Soe Lin was in critical condition with tuberculosis and it was feared he could die soon if he remained in jail, according to the letter, dated February 28.

    Nai Ngwe Thein, 80, was suffering from diabetes and a kidney ailment, while Min Kyi Win had a gastric problem and also needed urgent medical treatment, it said.

    "So Mon National Council, on behalf of Mon communities around the world, would like to request (the) High Commissioner for Human Rights to take urgent actions and to put strong pressure upon the State Peace and Development Council, Burma, for releasing all these Mon leaders immediately," the letter said.

    Burma has frequently been criticised about its poor human rights record and urged to release its political prisoners, which Amnesty International says number between 1,200 and 1,300.

    The letter was from the Mon National Council in Australia and received by e-mail in Thailand.

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    Thai Army forces Shan State troops off mountains to appease Burma

    Source : Bangkok Post

    The Third Army has expelled Shan State Army troops from border mountains to prevent them attacking Burmese soldiers from Thai soil as relations with Burma improve.

    Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasing said yesterday SSA troops on mountains in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces were forced to lower ground.

    Defence Minister Gen Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya had ordered the action, with relations improving after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Rangoon on Feb 9-10.

    To reciprocate, Burma was forcing Wa people to stop producing drugs by 2005, Lt-Gen Udomchai said.

    He had also sent staff to convince SSA leader Chao Yodsuek to negotiate with the Burmese government, in line with Mr Thaksin's recent promise to mediate between Rangoon and its ethnic groups.

    Maj-Gen Saprang Kalayanamit, Lt-Gen Udomchai's deputy, heads the team negotiating with Chao Yodsuek.

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    Intruder scares Burma's foreign minister in Bangladesh

    DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Police questioned employees at a Bangladeshi state guest house after the visiting Burmese foreign minister was woken at night by an intruder, news reports said Wednesday.

    Guards arrived at Minister Win Aung's room at the Padma guesthouse in Dhaka after he screamed for help Sunday night, and they found him trembling inside the toilet of his room, media reported.

    He spent the rest of the night at the Burmese Embassy, the Jugantar and Janakantha daily newspapers reported.

    Win Aung returned to Burma on Monday after a two-day visit to prepare for Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's official visit to Burma on March 19-20.

    Officials of the two countries declined to comment on the reported intrusion, which local media learned about only after police detained all the 39 staff members at the guest house for questioning.

    Win Aung reportedly told the guards who came to his aid that he had woken to see the shadow of a man approaching him.v He had gone to bed leaving one of the two bedroom doors unlocked. Nothing was missing from the room.

    Twenty-six employees were released after questioning, while 13 others, including security guards, were still being detained, Jugantar newspaper reported.

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